The Five Stages of Studying Abroad

Moving away from home to a fairly unknown destination can be quite a daunting task and can cause a roller-coaster of emotions. Here is what you can expect to experience.

04 July 2016

We’ve all heard of the five stages of grief – referred to as the Kübler-Ross model – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. A similar dynamic can be applied to the emotional journey of going and settling abroad for studies.

1. Confusion

These days students are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing the appropriate university, major and study destination. While being an advantage for some, it can be quite overwhelming for others and can cause your head to swim with confusion.

2. Excitement

Once you’ve locked down your choice of program and location and gone through the grueling application process, it becomes quite easy to breathe a sigh of relief and be overly enthusiastic over the prospects of exploring a foreign land while gaining a high-quality international education.

3. Overwhelming Panic

Now that you’ve actually landed at your destination, you realise there are a tonne of things that need taking care of all at once, and more often than not you have to tackle them all on your own. The sudden influx of chores and errands, coupled with the fact that you’re a novice when it comes to your surroundings, can give way to panic and anxiety.

4. Homesickness

Once everything is done and and you’ve managed to check things off your task list, you will tend to have a lot more time on your hands, and your mind will start to draw parallels between your home country and your study destination. Homesickness is a phase every international student is likely to go through at some point. It is inevitable; but don’t let it get the better of you.

5. Adjustment and Settlement

As the adage goes, ‘time heals everything’. After spending a considerable amount of time in your international home, you’re bound to get accustomed to and even grow an affiliation for it and it might even start feeling like home. Once you reach this stage of your experience, you can finally say that you have reached the end of your ‘settling abroad’ experience.

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SchoolApply will help you find, get accepted and eventually enroll at a university that fits you. You’ll work with a SchoolApply advisor who will guide you through the whole application process.
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The Application Journey

The Application Journey

01

Create Account

To build your SchoolApply profile, you will need to answer a few questions about yourself, your academic goals
and your finances. We won't share this information with anyone else. Creating a SchoolApply account is the first
step in your journey to studying at a university abroad.

02

Upload documents

The documents you upload will help us determine if we can support you in your goal of studying at a university
abroad. You will need to pay a SchoolApply admin fee in order to move on to step 3.

03

Meet your advisor

Your very own advisor will guide you through the Application Journey. At step 3, you will call your advisor so
you can express what is important to you and they can tell you about your options. After the call, your advisor
will send you a list of universities you can apply to.

04

Start application

With SchoolApply, you only need to create one application; your advisor will submit it to the universities for
you. For your application, you will need to include your academic history, English and entrance exam results,
an essay and reference letters. You will also pay an application fee to each university through SchoolApply.

05

Submit application

Your advisor will review the things you uploaded in step 4 and will submit your completed application to the universities
you selected. You will receive a notification when a university's response comes in.

06

Accept an offer

This might be one of the most exciting parts of the Application Journey! To accept an offer, you will need to pay
a deposit (you can do this through SchoolApply) to confirm your acceptance. Remember: you can only accept one
offer!

07

Visa interview

You will need to go to the embassy of the country where you will be studying to get your student visa. Let your
advisor know when the visa interview is scheduled. At this step, we will also offer to help with booking your
flight and arranging housing, insurance and student loans.

08

Study abroad

The final step in your Application Journey is letting us know that you're on your way to university. This step
is the easiest because we don't need any information. At this stage, we can close your SchoolApply account.

Choose your account

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When you set up your SchoolApply account, you can continue using the free version or you can make an upgrade to take full advantage of our expert counseling services.

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